The invention concerns a diffusion sample collector for gaseous media, comprising a transparent container open at both ends, which contains a collecting layer and has permeable retaining elements at its two open ends.
A diffusion sample collector of this type was known from German OS No. 30 12 380.
The known sample collector consists of a transparent tube that is filled with a collecting layer, for example activated charcoal, and is closed at its two ends with a porous diffusion grid. Such sample collectors are carried by persons working in an environment where the air contains hazardous components. The hazardous substances collected during the stay in the hazardous air are determined by a subsequent laboratory analysis of the collecting layers. For this purpose, the hazardous substance adsorbed by the collecting layer is chemically dissolved and determined. The amount of determined hazardous substance indicates, with respect to the carrying time, the average exposure of the person.
A considerable disadvantage of this known sample collector is the fact that prior to a laboratory analysis, it is impossible to see whether an exposure to hazardous substances did in fact occur. This finding is obtained only from the complicated laboratory analysis, which is subsequently proven to be unnecessary if no exposure occurred. Besides, the known sample collector allows only a conclusion to be drawn with respect to the amount of a hazardous substance accumulated within a unit of time. When the amount of hazardous substances increases rapidly during the time of exposure, this fact is not indicated by the sample collector and the person in question does not receive any warning of possible danger from which he might escape through eventual flight.